Red bean paste

Red bean paste or Azuki bean paste (, Japanese: 餡; romaji: an) is a food item prepared by boiling and mashing azuki beans with sugar.

Red bean paste is used in many Chinese desserts, such as:

• tangyuan
• zongzi
• mooncakes

Red bean paste is used in many Japanese desserts, such as:

• Anmitsu (an and jelly)
• Dorayaki (azuki bean pancake)
• Oshiruko (azuki bean soup)
• Uirō (a traditional Japanese steamed cake)

There are different varieties of an-

• koshian which is homogenous and smooth
• tsubuan which has some (sweet) whole beans still in it

The cartoon hero Anpanman is an anthropomorphic bun filled with azuki bean paste.